Adjustable orthodontic buccal tube



Jan. 29, 1963 l. l. WEINGER 3,075,237

ADJUSTABLE ORTHODONTIC BUCCAL TUBE Filed July 1, 1960 United States Patent 3,075,287 ADJUSTABLE ORTHODONTIC BUCCAL TUBE Irving I. Weinger, 424 Brighton Beach Ave., Brooklyn, NY. Filed July 1, 1960, Ser. No. 40,213 3 Claims. (CI. 32-14) This invention relates broadly to orthodontic appliances, and it concerns itself more specifically with the provision of an adjustable orthodontic buccal tube.

In the practice of the profession of orthodontia, which has for its purpose the correction of an improper bite, the practitioner aims to cause teeth which are out of alignment to move into proper positions. To achieve his goal, the orthodontist must do many things over a considerable period of time. One of these things is to cement a orthodontic band to the outer surface of as many of a patients teeth as he deems necessary. He first solders, welds or otherwise secures a buccal tube to each orthodontic band which he intends to cement to each of his patients most posterior teeth, namely the molars. An archwire is held in place in a patients mouth by causing each end of the archwire to pass through one of the buccal tubes, and the archwire is retained in a properly adjusted position by the buccal tubes. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the positionment of each buccal tube is exactly right in order to obtain the desired result. If the position of the tubes is not exactly right, an eflicient orthodontist will remove the band to which the improperly positioned buccal tube is secured, disengage the tube, resolder or reweld a buccal tube, and re-cement the tubecarrying band in what he believes to be the proper position. He might have to repeat this several times until the position of the buccal tube is accurate. Obviously, this takes up a considerable amount of an orthodontists time. In order to save valuable time, orthodontists have concerned themselves with the idea of providing a buccal tube which can be adjusted to proper position after it has been fixed to an orthodontic band and retained in a patients mouth for some time. All such devices presently known are so bulky in the mouth and so uncomfortable to the patient as to make them worthless.

With this in mind, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a buccal tube which is adapted to be soldered or welded to an orthodontic band and which can be adjusted to proper position after cementation without necessitating the removal of the buccal tube bearing orthodontic band from the patients mouth.

And it is a further aim of the present invention to provide a buccal tube which permits manipulation in the patients mouth without adding bulk to the patients tooth.

And it is a yet further advantage of the present invention to provide a buccal tube of this character, which may be soldered or welded to a prefabricated orthodontic band and thus be ready for instantaneous use by an orthodontist.

A further purpose of the present invention resides in the provision of a buccal tube of this character, the only added bulk of which is a segment of base material which is so thin that the patient cannot be made uncomfortable thereby when it is positioned in the patients mouth.

These and other meritorious aims and advantages, which will become more fully apparent as the description hereof proceeds, are attained by the novel construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a material component of the present invention, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a section of human teeth one of which has an orthodontic band cemented thereto, which is provided with a buccal tube of the present invention.

3,075,287 Patented Jan. 29, 1963 "ice FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of an orthodontic buccal tube constructed in accordance with the present invention, the buccal tube being drawn to an enlarged scale.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the buccal tube illustrated in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a rear view of the buccal tube illustrated in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged front elevational view of a modified form of orthodontic buccal tube.

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the buccal tube illustrated in FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a rear view of the buccal tube illustrated in FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, showing in broken lines two adjusted positions for the buccal tube, the respective angles of adjustment being exaggerated for the purpose of clarity.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, and more specifically to the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 5 and 9 the numeral 15 refers broadly to the tooth area illustrated in FIGURE 1, which comprises a plurality of human teeth 16 in the process of undergoing orthodontic treatment. Toward that end, one of the teeth 16 has a band B cemented thereto, to which a buccal tube of the present invention, broadly referred to by the numeral 17 has been secured by soldering or welding.

The adjustable buccal tube of the present invention comprises a plate 18 made from very thin preferably .005 gauge material and here illustrated as being substantially rectangular in cross-section. In actual use, plate 18 is smaller than the band B to which it is adapted to be secured preferably by soldering or welding. Substantially through its center, plate 18 is provided with a normally horizontally directed channel formed by the provision of a normally forwardly directed bulged portion 19, the channel being adapted to receive and retain buccal tube 20 therein. The channel is slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of tube 20 for a reason which will presently become more fully apparent. At each corner of the bulged portion 19, plate 18 is provided with a slit 22 extending normally horizontally from the edge of the plate inwardly for a purpose which will presently become apparent. Buccal tube 20 has a longitudinally directed opening 23 therethrough, through which archwire 24 is adapted to pass, as is illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing. The normally inner face of plate 18 has a narrow rear plate 21 secured thereto preferably by soldering or welding, for a purpose which will presently be more fully disclosed, the said rear plate 21 being positioned normally vertically through the center of the rear of said plate 18. The orthodontic structure illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 also shows the presence of ligature wire 25 secured in wire holder 26. The archwire 24 hereabove referred to is generally tubular in cross-section, and therefore the use of a cylindrical buccal tube 20 is indicated in the principal embodiment of the present invention and, to accommodate the cylindrical buccal tube 20, the bulged portion 19 is arcuately curved. However, some orthodontists prefer to work with an archwire which is square. The modification illustrated in FIG- URES 6 through 8 concerns itself with a device for use in connection with square archwire.

The modified adjustable buccal tube is broadly referred to by the numeral 30 and comprises a plate 31 made of a very thin material of a suitable and desirable nature. Plate 31 is illustrated as being substantially rectangular in cross-section. Extending normally horizontally through its center, plate 31 is provided with a normally forwardly extending substantially rectangular bulge 33 thereby forming a channel of a size slightly larger than the width of the substantially square buccal tube 32 which is adapted to be, retained therein. Buccal tube 32 has a central opening 35 extending longitudinally therethrough for the passage therethrough of one end of a square archwire (not shown) similar to the archwire 24 referred to in connection with the principal embodiment of this in: vention. Each corner of the bulged section 33 is provided with a slit or notch 36 for a purpose which will hereinafter be more fully described. The back of plate 31 has secured centrally thereof preferably by soldering or welding, a normally vertically extending relatively narrow strip 34 of a very thin material the purpose of which will presently become more fully apparent.

In the hands of a skilled person, the use of the adjustable buccal tube of the present invention is very simple. The orthodontist will cement a band around a patients tooth after he has secured a buccal tube thereto preferably by soldering or welding, for which purpose weld plate 21 in the principal embodiment and weld plate 33 in the modification have been provided and pass one end of an archwire through the buccal tube. He will then allow the patient to Wear the appliance for a While. At the proper time the orthodontist will examine the paticnts mouth to determine whether the buccal tubes require either angular adjustment or adjustment toward or away from the teeth or both. When he has determined what the patient requires, the orthodontist can make the adjustment easily and with the loss of a minimum of time. If angular adjustment is required, he tilts the buccal illustrated in FIGURE 9, the angular positionment being exaggerated for the purpose of clarity. The orthodontist will tilt the tube from its normal axis A to an axial position A1 or if tilting in the opposite direction is required, he will tilt the buccal tube from its normal axis A to the new axis A2 or any portion thereof. In actual practice it has been found that an adjustment possibility not exceeding 10 degrees in either direction is all that needs to be provided for, since no skilled orthodontist will set a buccal tube in a patients mouth in such a way that greater adjustment is required. Slits 22 and 36 are provided to furnish the space which is required for the adjustment toward or away from the teeth. If it is necessary to adjust a buccal tube toward or away from the teeth, this is done in an obvious manner, in which event the weld plates 21 and 34 serve as stops. Since each buccal tube can be angularly adjusted either up or down, and since the buccal tube can be adjusted by selectively positioning it closer to or further away from the orthodontic band to which it is secured, each buccal tube is provided substantially with swivel action. The orthodontist may find it necessary to make further adjustments until he is satisfied that he has obtained a satisfactory result. He will then secure the buccal tube in the groove formed by bulges 19 and 33 preferably by soldering or welding. All of these adjustments can be made quickly and easily without requiring the removal of the orthodontic appliances from the patients mouth.

Thus there has been shown and described an adjustable orthodontic buccal tube in the preferred form of its embodiment and in one modification thereof. It is to be understood that this disclosure is to be regarded as illustrative and descriptive only of the best known forms of the present invention and not as limitative or restrictive to the exact details shown, applicant reserving the right to make such changes in the construction of his device as might come within the scope of the appended claims without thereby departing either from the spirit or the scope of the present invention. I

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An adjustable orthodontic buccal tube comprising the combination with a buccal tube having a central longitudinal bore therethrough for the passage of one end of an archwire therethrough; of a plate, a bulged portion formed in said plate, said bulged portion extending through said plate in a normally horizontal direction, said bulge forming a channel in which said buccal tube is housed, said channel being wider in cross-section than the width of said buccal tube, a weld strip, said weld strip being hired to said plate transversely across the center of the back of the said plate, said weld strip being adapted to be secured to an orthodontic band, and the relative widths of said buccal tube and said channel permitting adjustments of said bucal tube relative to its normal horizontal axis after said weld strip has been fixed to an orthodontic band and the orthodontic band has been cemented to a patients tooth.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate has a plurality of slits formed therein to permit adjustments of the distance between the buccal tube and the pa-tients tooth after said weld strip has been secured to an orthodontic band and the orthodontic band has been cemented to a patients tooth, and said weld strip providing adjustment limiting means.

' 3. A device for adjusting a buccal. tube after it has been secured in a patients mouth, said device comprising the combination with a buccal tube having a central longitudinal bore therethrough for the passage of one end of an archwire therethrough; of a plate, a channel extending through said plate in a normally horizontally direction in which the buccal tube is housed, said channel being wider in cross-section than the width of the buccal tube, a weld strip, said Weld strip secured to said plate transversely across the center of the back of said plate whereby said plate may be fixed to an orthodontic band, the relative widths of said channel and the buccal tube permitting adjustments of the buccal tube with respect to its normal horizontal axis, said plate being slit from both ends for adjustment of the buccal tube relative to the distance between the buccal tube and the tooth to which it is applied, said weld strip limiting the distance adjustrnent, and said adjustments being attainable after said weld strip has been secured to an orthodontic band and the orthodontic band has been cemented to a patients tooth.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 986,425 Montague Mar. 7, 1911 2,257,069 Peak Sept. 23, 1941 2,381,128 Laskin Aug. 7, 1945 2,921,371 Wallshein Jan. 19, 1960 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE ORTHODONTIC BUCCAL TUBE COMPRISING THE COMBINATION WITH A BUCCAL TUBE HAVING A CENTRAL LONGITUDINAL BORE THERETHROUGH FOR THE PASSAGE OF ONE END OF AN ARCHWIRE THERETHROUGH; OF A PLATE, A BULGED PORTION FORMED IN SAID PLATE, SAID BULGED PORTION EXTENDING THROUGH SAID PLATE IN A NORMALLY HORIZONTAL DIRECTION, SAID BULGE FORMING A CHANNEL IN WHICH SAID BUCCAL TUBE IS HOUSED, SAID CHANNEL BEING WIDER IN CROSS-SECTION THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID BUCCAL TUBE, A WELD STRIP, SAID WELD STRIP BEING FIXED TO SAID PLATE TRANSVERSELY ACROSS THE CENTER OF THE BACK OF THE SAID PLATE, SAID WELD STRIP BEING ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO AN ORTHODONTIC BAND, AND THE RELATIVE WIDTHS OF SAID BUCCAL TUBE AND SAID CHANNEL PERMITTING ADJUSTMENTS OF SAID BUCAL TUBE RELATIVE TO ITS NORMAL HORIZONTAL AXIS AFTER SAID WELD STRIP HAS BEEN FIXED TO AN ORTHODONTIC BAND AND THE ORTHODONTIC BAND HAS BEEN CEMENTED TO A PATIENT''S TOOTH. 